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Last Friday I had the privilege of watching Lang Lang perform a freshly commissioned piano concerto by Tan Dun (who composed the score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) at Avery Fisher Hall in New York. The 25-year-old wunderkind brilliantly exploited the work's wide dynamic contrasts and powerful sonorities, often conjuring extraordinary tone color by hammering the lowest notes of the keyboard, and bewitching the audience with extravagant gestures. Lang Lang is to the piano what Leonard Bernstein was to conducting. Anyway, Sony slipped me a ticket to celebrate its three-year pact with what is arguably the world's greatest living pianist. "Sony is delighted to welcome Lang Lang as a 'brand ambassador' who can reach and connect with audiences around the world," said Sir Howard Stringer in a press release. Lang Lang describes himself as "a long-time Sony user." No doubt he'll boost Sony's popularity, not only in America but in classical-conscious Europe and his native China. It's great to see a major corporation hitching its wagon to a major pianist. Rumors of classical music's death have been greatly exaggerated.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/415juno.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Juno (Ellen Page) is a confident and candid teenage girl facing an unplanned pregnancy. Instead of taking the expedient way out with an abortion, she sets out to find the perfect parents to adopt her baby. With the support of her family and friends, she struggles with the physical changes that her body undergoes as well as the challenges of the social stereotypes associated with teenage pregnancy.

Gadget reviewers liked the original iRecord, from Streaming Networks and NXP Semiconductors, because it made transferring any audio or video from one source to another, such as protected DVDs playing on a DVD player to an iPod, or recorded TiVo...

Sony isn't talking about its update plans for its high-end XBR LCD series, but it doesn't have to when leaked product road maps say all that needs to be said. According to the Boy Genius Report, which published a leaked documents about the XBR...